Tony Dow, the healthy actor who played the “perfect big brother” Wally Cleaver in the eternal television comedy let him drink and its ’80s sequel He’s Dead, their reps announced after a tumultuous day for their family. He was 77 years old.
Dow died Wednesday morning with his family by his side. at his home in Topanga. A post on his official Facebook page read: “We have received confirmation from Tony’s son Christopher that Tony passed away this morning with his loving family by his side to accompany him on this journey.”
The post continued: “We know the world is mourning the loss of this incredible man. He gave so much to all of us and was loved by many. One fan said it best: “It’s rare when there’s someone as universally loved as Tony.” “
The post also included a statement from Dow’s son Christopher: “Although this is a very sad day, I have comfort and peace that she is in a better place. He was the best father anyone could ask for. He was my coach, my mentor, my voice of reason, my best friend, my best man at my wedding and my hero. My wife said something powerful and it shows what kind of man she was. She said, “Tony was a very kind man. He had a big heart. and I have never heard Tony say anything bad or negative about anyone.”
In a Facebook post, spokespersons Frank Bilotta and Renee James said Dow, who was battling cancer, died Tuesday morning but has since been deleted. A few hours later, another post said he was still alive:
“This morning Tony’s wife Lauren, who was very upset, informed us that Tony had passed away and asked us to let all of his fans know. As we’re sure you understand, it was a very difficult time for him. We’ve since gotten a call from Tony’s sister-in-law saying that while Tony is fine, he hasn’t left yet. Tony’s son Christopher and daughter-in-law Melissa were also by his side to comfort him and we’ll keep you posted with future updates.”
when be let him drink Debuting on CBS in October 1957, Doe was 12 years old and Wally was starting to become interested in girls. When the show ended its original run on ABC in June 1963, his character had graduated from Mayfield High School and was heading off to college.
In the series pilot, filmed in early 1957, Paul Sullivan played Wally alongside Jerry Mathers as his younger brother, Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver, while Barbara Billingsley and Max Showalter (aka Casey Adams) played the boys. and Ward Cleaver.
“CBS said, ‘Okay, let’s do the show, but you have to change the father and the eldest son,’” Dow recalled in a 2018 interview.
“They hired a guy from Screen Gems named Harry Ackerman, who was sort of a classic Hollywood producer. She said. “Hey, I was working with a boy, he’s a little green, you can look at him.”
The son of a Hollywood stuntman, Dow was a junior swimmer and champion diver who appeared in two pilots for a Tarzan-like show that Ackerman produced but never aired. Although this was his only acting experience, Doe was hired let him drink (as Hugh Beaumont was his father).
Created by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, let him drink It was a family comedy told not from the parents’ point of view, but from the children’s point of view.
Connell’s son Jay, then 14, was Wally’s role model, and his 8-year-old son Ricky was the inspiration for Beaver, nickname for one of Connell’s ships in the US Merchant Navy.
“Wally is a big big brother,” Mathers said in a 2006 interview for the Television Academy Foundation website. “He’s a basketball champion, a football player. He does everything right. He’s a tremendous letter writer. He gets A’s in all the papers. Everybody wants.”
After six seasons and 234 original episodes — unbelievably, the show was never on the air from the start — Dow, Mathers and Billingsley returned for the 1983 CBS telefilm. still beaverWally is now a lawyer. (Dow and Mathers also appeared on Kellogg’s Corn Flakes packaging that year.)
All of this led to a series of revivals that ran for four seasons (one on Disney Channel, three on TBS) until 1989.
Dow started out as a television director Leave the new to BeverAnd he spent the next twelve years on episodes of other shows like Harry and the Hendersons, Coach, Babylon 5 s Star Trek: Deep Nine Space and served as visual effects supervisor in 1996 a doctor who Television movie.
Anthony Lee Dow was born on April 13, 1945, in Los Angeles, the youngest of two children. His mother was Muriel Montrose, Mac Sennett’s “Beauty in the Bath” and later a stunt double who often voiced Clara Bow. His father, John, was a general contractor.
Dow trained to become an Olympic athlete and worked at the Hollywood Athletic Club. “There was a lifeguard there who was an actor,” he recalls. “He told my mom, ‘I’m going to this interview for a show where they’re looking for a father and a son. Can Tony go with me because we’re the same? I thought it was the only way [he would be hired].
“I got the part and he didn’t, so it was sad. The program was called Johnny WildlifeAnd it would be the first color television series about a wildlife photographer and his son. He was way ahead of his time.”
play let him drink “It was great,” said Dow. “You always hear stories about all these arguments on set. We never had it. They wanted us to be as much of a family as possible, because Jerry and I were very normal kids.
“Actually, they asked our parents not to let us watch the show on TV so we wouldn’t make a big fuss. So there are probably episodes I haven’t seen yet… and there was no profanity on set, not even from the crew. They wanted it to be as familiar as possible. “
He follows let him drinkDow has appeared in series such as Dr. kildare, my three children s Mr. Novak and played a character named Chet never so young, a Malibu series aimed at teens. He also served in the National Guard, although he refused to carry any type of weapon, and attended UCLA and Columbia University.
Later appeared Dow Mod Squad, ambulance!, me quincy, Knight, Carlos in charge s murder, he wrote and portrayed a policeman General Hospital.
After he and Billingsley performed in a play come blow the hornDow and Mathers spent 17 months on another dinner show, titled see you later Stanley early The beaver still waved.
Dow expected to run 1997 let him drink film at Universal; When he was turned down, he said he turned down an offer of $1,200 for a cameo. “I don’t think they cared if it was me or not, it was a little insulting,” he said.
In June 1980, he married Lauren, his second wife.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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